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 Pasture & Range: December 2003 Other Pasture & Range Articles |
|
by Chuck Coffey |
Introduction
Forage availability is frequently a limiting factor during the fall in winter
annual grazing systems. Limit-grazing has the potential to stretch a high-quality
forage resource until adequate forage is available in the spring. Little
information is available evaluating the effectiveness of different limit-grazing
practices. In this project, we are evaluating the effects of limit grazing
and method of limit grazing on animal performance, forage utilization and
grazing enterprise profitability by comparing the effectiveness of every-other-day
winter annual grazing, daily restricted grazing intervals and ad-libitum
grazing.
Methods
Once winter pasture becomes available for grazing, approximately Nov. 20, 240
calves are randomly divided into three different winter grazing treatment
groups and replicated twice. One-third receive winter pasture full time,
one-third receive winter pasture two to four hours per day and one-third
receive winter pasture every other day for eight hours. Each of the three
treatment groups are rotated through three pastures on a bi-weekly basis,
and forage availability and quality is measured on a monthly basis. All cattle
are offered full-feed bermudagrass hay (10 to 12 percent CP). Forage intake
is measured for each group by weighing hay and estimating waste. The calves
are weighed off pasture and shipped to the feedlot in late January or early
February. Grazing performance is measured at the end of the winter grazing
phase.
Results and Discussion
In the first year of this study, steers were weighed on pasture Dec. 2, 2002,
and weighed off pasture Jan. 30, 2003. The full-time grazers gained 2.25
lbs./hd./day while the every day limit grazers gained 1.25 lbs./hd./day and
the every-other-day limit grazers gained 0.91 lbs./hd./day. The every-other-day
limit grazers appeared to be more stressed with their routine as they typically
stood at the gate wanting to eat with the every day limit grazers.
These data only represent the performance of the cattle during the limit
grazing phase of year one of a three-year study. |
Disclaimer for Demonstrations and Preliminary Research
Results
Information reported from demonstrations is for illustration purposes only and
should not be taken as conclusive evidence. Demonstrations are conducted in
such a way that definitive statements about differences or similarities among
factors or treatments cannot be made with any level of certainty. In a similar
way, preliminary results from designed experiments are subject to conclusions
that could differ dramatically from year to year or location to location. Therefore,
information from demonstrations and all preliminary results should be viewed
with a degree of caution.